<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Further Analysis of the Phonology of the Trollish Language by 1nsomnizac</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28927263">Further Analysis of the Phonology of the Trollish Language</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/1nsomnizac/pseuds/1nsomnizac'>1nsomnizac</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Homestuck Linguistics [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Homestuck</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alien Culture, Gen, Languages and Linguistics, Linguistics</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 13:28:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,579</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28927263</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/1nsomnizac/pseuds/1nsomnizac</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Abstract: in which various methods of analysis are applied to the corpus of troll vocabulary, speculations on the phonetic character of trollish is given, and an expanded lexicon of trollish words are considered.<br/>In other words, I'm throwing analytical tools at the wall and seeing what sticks, making guesses, and eventually applying these analytical processes to the names of trolls from hiveswap.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Homestuck Linguistics [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2121621</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Contents And Glossary</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Further Analysis of the Phonology of the Trollish Language</p><p>Abstract: in which various methods of analysis are applied to the corpus of troll vocabulary, speculations on the phonetic character of trollish is given, and an expanded lexicon of trollish words are considered </p><p>In other words, I'm throwing analytical tools at the wall and seeing what sticks, making guesses, and eventually applying these analytical processes to the names of trolls from hiveswap.</p><p>Released Chapters:</p>
<ul>
<li>Chapter 2: A Summary Of <em>An Introductory Analysis of the Phonology of The Trollish Language</em>
</li>
<li>Chapter 3: The Subtraction Method</li>
<li>Chapter 4: The Subtraction Method, Part 2</li>
</ul><p>Sections yet to be released:</p>
<ul>
<li>Making It More Like English</li>
<li>Making It More Like Some Other Languages I Have Studied</li>
<li>Things Which I Think Would Be Cool</li>
<li>Hiveswap Names</li>
</ul><p>More Chapters To Be Added If I Make Them.</p><p>The remainder of this page will be a glossary of linguistic terms I use in this paper.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Summary of the Methodology and Findings of An Introductory Analysis of the Phonology of The Trollish Language</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Edit 2021/2/1: I reworded this section to make it more accessible to the layman.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Summary of the Methodology and Findings of <em>An Introductory Analysis of the Phonology of The Trollish Language</em></p><p>The first and last names of the Homestuck trolls are similar enough in form to suggest that they belong to the same alien language. In <em> An Introductory Analysis </em>, I treat the thirty six trollish words (the twenty four first names and the twelve surnames) as a sample of words from an unknown language and try to determine what I can about the phonology (sound system) of that language.</p><p>I started with a few assumptions about how this language works.</p><p>First, I assume that all of the troll words in the sample are native trollish words. This is not necessarily true when looking at samples involving names; if you took the Maori actor Temuera Morrison's surname as an example of the phonology of Maori, it might not yield reliable results, since 'Morrison' is a name from English rather than Maori. But because the whole inspiration for this project is that the words all sound like they could all come from a single language, that is what I assume is the case.</p><p>In spoken human languages, words are generally spoken in bursts called syllables. Each of these has a long loud middle part, which linguists call the nucleus. This is generally a vowel, although some languages allow certain consonants to serve as syllable nuclei. Consonants may come before the nucleus, after the nucleus, both, or neither. Pre-nucleic consonants are called the <strong>onset</strong>, and post-nucleic consonants are called the <strong>coda</strong>. Different languages have different rules governing whether syllables may have onsets and codas, how many consonants may occur in them, and which consonants may occur in which order. English has a large number of consonants and fairly permissive rules, allowing words with three onset consonants and three coda consonants in some situations (for example 'strengths' S-T-R-E-NG-TH-S), but even English does not allow every possible combination of three consonants (so a word like 'gvpatsk' does not sound remotely like an English word). On the other end of the spectrum, Hawaiian allows only one consonant per onset and does not allow coda consonants at all. But while a fair number of the languages you encounter are somewhere between English and Hawaiian, a fair number of languages are more flexible than English is on this scale (look up the Georgian language on Wikipedia sometime if you are curious). The rules for how sounds go together are called phonotactics. I assume that trollish words are built from syllables, that these syllables have onsets, codas, and nuclei, that these parts of syllables have obey the phonotactic rules of the trollish language.</p><p>Writing can represent a language more or less well, as speakers and spellers of English usually learn when they pick up another language with a straightforward spelling system. The things which make a spelling system complicated usually fall into two categories: adapting a writing system for a language from another language which has a different sound system, and keeping historical spelling which no longer reflects the way words are spoken. English has the worst of both worlds in this respect; five vowel letters (or seven if you count Y and W) must express over a dozen vowel sounds, and the Latin alphabet has doubled for some consonants (C, K, and Q; C and S) and is missing letters for all sorts of sounds English uses (sh, ch, th, ng). Meanwhile our spelling system is 400 years old, and the way vowels sound is different in almost all cases. While the latter problem seems quite likely, especially given how long some trolls seem to live, the former problem is probably not, since we see very little evidence of a cultural plurality; in both universes the Peixes culture seems to have become dominant early, with a relatively isolated "East Alternian" population allowed to keep their language while the rest of the world grows more uniform. The spelling system may represent a centuries-outdated version of the language, but it is still a version of the language. Therefore, it is likely that each letter represents one sound (or at least one phoneme, multiple sounds that speakers hear as "the same sound". This is my weakest assumption, one that I bend when trying to project my findings into a theory.</p><p>I assume that the letters A, E, I, O, U, and Y are vowels. If I were a real linguist I might try to defend myself on this point, but I am not, so I will instead just say, come on. Those are obviously the vowels.</p><p>The thirty six trollish words are as follows.</p><p>/ampora/, /aradia/, /aranea/, /captor/, /cronus/, /damara/, /equius/, /eridan/, /feferi/, /gamzee/, /horuss/, /kanaya/, /kankri/, /karkat/, /kurloz/, /latula/, /leijon/, /makara/, /maryam/, /meenah/, /megido/, /meulin/, /mituna/, /nepeta/, /nitram/, /peixes/, /porrim/, /pyrope/, /rufioh/, /serket/, /sollux/, /tavros/, /terezi/, /vantas/, /vriska/, /zahhak/</p><p>In this document, slashes enclose sections of trollish text. This is similar to the practice of actual linguists, who enclose broad transcription in slashes. The details of what 'broad transcription' means are not relevant at the moment, but if you are curious about it, you should look it up.</p><p>In this sample, every letter of the standard 26 letter English alphabet occurs, except for the letters B and W. This does not mean that they are not present in the language; you could find 36 English words without either of those letters if you tried, after all. It does mean, however, that you can draw no information about them from the sample.</p><p>The letters J and Q appear only one time each, in both cases they are surrounded by vowels. This also limits the information about them.</p><p>The letter C only appears at the beginning of two words, /captor/ and /cronus/. It is possible that C represents a sound which only occurs at the beginning of syllables, much like the H sound in English (when H is at the end of a written syllable, it is silent). This may not be the case, but we cannot reliably place C at the end of syllables with the data we have.</p><p>The vowel letters A, E, I, O, U, and Y occur in the following series of letters: AYA, EA, EE, EI, EU, IA, IO, UIU, and YA. Our base assumption is that each letter represents the same sound in all contexts, but this assumption is often very unreliable when two vowel letters occur next to each other. Double letters represent long vowels (that is, vowels held for a longer amount of time than a normal vowel) in many languages. Two simple vowels (jargon term: monophthong vowels) right next to each other often blend together into a diphthong vowel, which starts like the first vowel and ends like the second. As such, even a fairly transparent writing system often resorts to a pair of letters to write these combined sounds, even if they function as one vowel. In An Introductory Analysis, I treat all sequences of vowel letters as potential diphthongs.</p><p>Phonotactics</p><p>In <em> Introductory Analysis </em>, I treat the beginning of each word as the beginning of a syllable, and the end of each word as the end of a syllable. I therefore treated the first vowel or series of vowels as the nucleus of the first syllable, and the last vowel or series of vowels as the nucleus of the last syllable. It follows from this that any consonants which come before the first nucleus are the onset of the first syllable, and therefore a valid syllable onset. Likewise, any vowels which follow the last nucleus of the word are the coda of that syllable, and therefore a valid syllable coda.</p><p>When I apply this to logic to the sample I can extract a valid sequence of onset and nucleus for each word, as follows. I preserve the relationship between onset and nucleus, because in some languages, there are consonant sounds which only occur before certain vowels and not in front of others. For example, Japanese does not normally allow the sequences TI and TU, these sequences become “chi” and “tsu”, although modern borrowings from languages which do not have this restriction sometimes occur (the word for T-shirt, tii-shatsu, is not usually pronounced chii shatsu).</p><p>/a-/, /ca-/, /cro-/, /da-/, /e-/, /fe-/, /ga-/, /ho-/, /ka-/, /ku-/, /la-/, /lei-/, /ma-/, /mee-/, /me-/, /meu-/, /mi-/, /ne-/, /ni-/, /pei-/, /po-/, /py-/, /ru-/, /se-/, /so-/, /ta-/, /te-/, /va-/, /vri-/, /za-/</p><p>Among these sequences are /a-/ and /e-/, vowels occurring without a consonant onset. This is possible in every human language I am aware of, so it would have been safe to assume it was possible here, but in the interest of data purity I am minimizing my assumptions here, so these sequences are useful.</p><p>Also among these sequences are /cro-/ and /vri-/, both of which have an onset consisting of two consonants. The second consonant in both cases is /r/. In both cases, the first consonant also appears by itself as an onset, albeit with a different vowel.</p><p>I apply this process again to extract a valid sequence of nucleus and coda from each word, as follows. As above, some languages do not allow all codas to occur with all vowels; the OW in ‘how’ never comes before the NG sound in English.</p><p>/-a/, /-ah/, /-ak/, /-am/, /-an/, /-as/, /-at/, /-aya/, /-e/, /-ea/, /-ee/, /-es/, /-et/, /-i/, /-ia/, /-im/, /-in/, /-ioh/, /-or/, /-oz/, /-on/, /-o/, /-os/, /-uius/, /-us/, /-uss/, /-ux/, /-yam/</p><p>Several of these sequences end in vowels, particularly /a/, /aya/, /e/, /ea/, /ee/, /i/, /ia/, and /o/. It is possible that the other vowels only occur before consonants; consider the E in English “bed”, which does not occur at the end of words.</p><p>Looking at these onset-nucleus sequences and nucleus-coda sequences, I infer a range of possible syllables. If a syllable may begin with /ka-/ and end with /-at/, it is reasonable to assume that the syllable /kat/ is a valid syllable.</p><p>By this logic, the following syllables are valid:</p><p>Nucleus /a/:<br/>/a/, /ah/, /ak/, /am/, /an/, /as/, /at/<br/>/ca/, /cah/, /cak/, /cam/, /can/, /cas/, /cat/<br/>/da/, /dah/, /dak/, /dam/, /dan/, /das/, /dat/<br/>/ga/, /gah/, /gak/, /gam/, /gan/, /gas/, /gat/<br/>/ka/, /kah/, /kak/, /kam/, /kan/, /kas/, /kat/<br/>/la/, /lah/, /lak/, /lam/, /lan/, /las/, /lat/<br/>/ma/, /mah/, /mak/, /mam/, /man/, /mas/, /mat/<br/>/ta/, /tah/, /tak/, /tam/, /tan/, /tas/, /tat/<br/>/va/, /vah/, /vak/, /vam/, /van/, /vas/, /vat/<br/>/za/, /zah/, /zak/, /zam/, /zan/, /zas/, /zat/</p><p>Nucleus /e/:<br/>/e/, /es/, /et/<br/>/fe/, /fes/, /fet/<br/>/me/, /mes/, /met/<br/>/ne/, /nes/, /net/<br/>/se/, /ses/, /set/<br/>/te/, /tes/, /tet/</p><p>Nucleus /ee/:<br/>/mee/</p><p>Nucleus /i/:<br/>/mi/, /mim/, /min/<br/>/ni/, /nim/, /nin/<br/>/vri/, /vrim/, /vrin/</p><p>Nucleus /o/:<br/>/cro/, /cron/, /cror/, /cros/, /croz/<br/>/ho/, /hon/, /hor/, /hos/, /hoz/<br/>/po/, /pon/, /por/, /pos/, /poz/<br/>/so/, /son/, /sor/, /sos/, /soz/</p><p>Nucleus /u/:<br/>/kus/, /kuss/, /kux/<br/>/rus/, /russ/, /rux/</p><p>A conservative analysis of these syllables suggests a common pattern of sound which we can represent like this: (C)(r)V(C) that is, optional consonant, optional /r/, Vowel, optional consonant, with the mystery of the multiple vowel sequences and the final double /s/ unresolved pending further research.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Subtraction Method, First Iteration</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I've been writing these on my phone since my laptop is being repaired. Formatting is a major pain in the ass. I will format this better later.<br/>Edit 2021/2/1: I reworded this to make it more accessible and less like something I slapped together on my phone. I also revised some errors.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>In </span>
  <em>
    <span>Introductory Analysis</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I noticed that all of the valid syllables which I discovered conformed to a rough pattern of (C)(/r/)V(C), the only exception being the double /s/ in the word /horuss/. This suggests that while it is possible that there are valid trollish syllables which break this pattern, syllables which conform to this structure are likely to be valid syllables.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The following words can be built out of valid syllables I have discovered: /ampora/ (/am/ + /por/ + /a/), /horuss/ (/ho/ + /russ/), /vantas/ (/van/ + /tas/). However, the remaining thirty three words need at least one syllable which I have not discovered yet. One way to find these syllables is by subtracting valid syllables from words until you find syllables which fit the known syllable structure of (C)(/r/)V(C).</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This process is more reliable when you can authoritatively determine the syllable boundaries, so for now I ignore the words </span>
  <span>/aradia/, /aranea/, /equius/, /gamzee/, /kanaya/, /leijon/, /maryam/, /meenah/,/meulin/, /peixes/, and /rufioh/. I am also ignoring the words which can already be broken into valid syllables (/ampora/, /horuss/, /vantas/).</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>/captor/: /ca/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/captor/ - /ca/ = /ptor/</span></li>
<li><span>This does not fit the pattern. Therefore, we have no conclusive result.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/cronus/: /cro/, /cron/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/cronus/ - /cro/ = /nus/</span></li>
<li><span>/cronus/ - /cron/ = /us/</span></li>
<li><span>Both subtractions fit the pattern. Therefore, we have no conclusive result.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/damara/: /a/, /da/, /dam/, /ma/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/damara/ - /da/ - /a/ = /mar/</span></li>
<li><span>/damara/ - /da/ - /ma/ = /ra/</span></li>
<li><span>/damara/ - /dam/ - /a/ = /ar/</span></li>
<li><span>All subtractions fit the pattern. Therefore, we have no conclusive result.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/eridan/: /an/, /e/, /dan/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/eridan/ - /e/ - /an/ = /rid/</span></li>
<li><span>/eridan/ - /e/ - /dan/ = /ri/</span></li>
<li><span>Both subtractions fit the pattern. Therefore, we have no conclusive result.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/feferi/: /e/, /fe/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/feferi/ - /e/ = /fef/ and /ri/</span></li>
<li><span>/feferi/ - /fe/ - /fe/ = /ri/</span></li>
<li><span>Both subtractions fit the pattern. Therefore, we have no conclusive result about the validity of the syllable /fef/. However, both subtractions produce the syllable /ri/. Therefore I infer that /ri/ is a valid syllable.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/kankri/: /ka/, /kan/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/kankri/ - /ka/ = /nkri/</span></li>
<li><span>/kankri/ - /kan/ = /kri/</span></li>
<li><span>/kri/ is the only subtraction which fits the pattern. Therefore I infer that /kri/ is a valid syllable.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/karkat/: /at/, /kat/, /ka/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/karkat/ - /ka/ = /rkat/</span></li>
<li><span>/karkat/ - /at/ = /kark/</span></li>
<li><span>/karkat/ - /kat/ = /kar/</span></li>
<li><span>/kar/ is the only valid subtraction. Therefore I infer that /kar/ is a valid syllable.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/kurloz/: </span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>No known valid syllables go into /kurloz/. Therefore, we have no conclusive result.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/latula/: /a/, /la/, /lat/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/latula/ - /la/ - /a/ = /tul/</span></li>
<li><span>/latula/ - /la/ - /la/ = /tu/</span></li>
<li><span>/latula/ - /lat/ - /a/ = /ul/</span></li>
<li><span>/latula/ - /lat/ - /la/ = /u/</span></li>
<li><span>All subtractions fit the pattern.Therefore, we have no conclusive result.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/makara/: /a/, /ka/, /ma/, /mak/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/makara/ - /ma/ - /a/ = /kar/</span></li>
<li><span>/makara/ - /ma/ - /ka/ = /ra/</span></li>
<li><span>/makara/ - /mak/ - /a/ = /ra/ or /ar/</span></li>
<li><span>All subtractions fit the pattern. Therefore, we have no conclusive result.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/megido/: /me/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/megido/ - /me/ = /gido/</span></li>
<li><span>This represents two new syllables with unclear boundaries, any of which fit the pattern. Therefore, we have no conclusive result.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/mituna/: /a/, /mi/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/mituna/ - /mi/ - /a/ = /tun/</span></li>
<li><span>/tun/ fits the pattern. Therefore I infer that /tun/ is a valid syllable.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/nepeta/: /a/, /e/, /ne/, /ta/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/nepeta/ - /ne/ - /a/ = /pet/, which fits the pattern.</span></li>
<li><span>/nepeta/ - /ne/ - /ta/ = /pe/, which fits the pattern.</span></li>
<li><span>/nepeta/ - /e/ - /ta/ = /nep/, which fits the pattern.</span></li>
<li><span>All subtractions fit the pattern. Therefore, we have no conclusive result.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/nitram/: /am/, /ni/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/nitram/ - /am/ = /nitr/</span></li>
<li><span>/nitram/ - /ni/ = /tram/</span></li>
<li><span>/tram/ is the only subtraction which fits the pattern. Therefore, I infer that /tram/ is a valid syllable.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/porrim/: /po/, /por/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/porrim/ - /po/ = /rrim/</span></li>
<li><span>/porrim/ - /por/ = /rim/</span></li>
<li><span>/rim/ is the only subtraction which fits the pattern. Therefore, I infer that /rim/ is a valid syllable.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/pyrope/: /e/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/pyrope/ - /e/ = /pyrop/</span></li>
<li><span>This represents two syllables with uncertain boundaries, any of which fit the pattern. Therefore, we have no conclusive result.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/serket/: /se/, /et/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/serket/ - /se/ = /rket/</span></li>
<li><span>/serket/ - /et/ = /serk/</span></li>
<li><span>Neither subtraction fits the pattern. Therefore, we have no conclusive result.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/sollux/: /so/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/sollux/ - /so/ = /llux/</span></li>
<li><span>This does not fit the pattern. Therefore, we have no conclusive result.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/tavros/: /ta/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/tavros/ - /ta/ = /vros/</span></li>
<li><span>/vros/ fits the pattern. Therefore, I infer that /vros/ is a valid syllable.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/terezi/: /e/, /te/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/terezi/ - /te/ = /rezi/</span></li>
<li><span>/terezi/ - /e/ = /ter/ and /zi/</span></li>
<li><span>The former represents two syllables of unclear boundaries, any of which fit the pattern. The latter fit the pattern. Therefore, we have no conclusive result.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/vriska/: /vri/, /ka/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/vriska/ - /vri/ = /ska/</span></li>
<li><span>/vriska/ - /ka/ = /vris/</span></li>
<li><span>/vris/ fits the pattern, /ska/ does not. Therefore, I infer that /vris/ is a valid syllable.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>/zahhak/: /ak/, /za/, /zah/</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/zahhak/ - /ak/ = /zahh/</span></li>
<li><span>/zahhak/ - /za/ = /hhak/</span></li>
<li><span>/zahhak/ - /zah/ = /hak/</span></li>
<li><span>/hak/ is the only subtraction which fits the pattern. Therefore, I infer that /hak/ is a valid syllable.</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>This process creates the following inferred syllables (IS): /hak/, /kri/, /kar/, /ri/, /rim/, /tram/, /tun/, /vris/, /vros/.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>These syllables give us the following onset-nucleus sequences: /ha-/, /kri-/, /ka-/, /ri-/, /tra-/, /tu-/, /vri-/, /vro-/. The new ONS of these are: /ha-/, /kri-/, /ri-/, /tra-/, /tu-/, and /vro-/.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>These syllables give us the following nucleus-coda sequences: /-ak/, /-am/, /-ar/, /-i/, /-im/, /-is/, /-os/, /-un/. The new NCS of these are: /-ar/, /-is/, and /-un/.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When we add these sequences to the ones collected in Introductory Analysis, we get the following new syllable sets (new syllables marked with asterisk) for /a/, /i/, /o/, and /u/.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nucleus /a/:</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/a/, /ah/, /ak/, /am/, /an/, <strong>/ar*/</strong>, /as/, /at/</span></li>
<li><span>/ca/, /cah/, /cak/, /cam/, /can/, <strong>/car*/</strong>, /cas/, /cat/</span></li>
<li><span>/da/, /dah/, /dak/, /dam/, /dan/, <strong>/dar*/</strong>, /das/, /dat/</span></li>
<li><span>/ga/, /gah/, /gak/, /gam/, /gan/, <strong>/gar*/</strong>, /gas/, /gat/</span></li>
<li><strong>/ha*/, /hah*/, /hak*/, /ham*/, /han*/, /har*/, /has*/, /hat*/</strong></li>
<li><span>/ka/, /kah/, /kak/, /kam/, /kan/, <strong>/kar*/,</strong> /kas/, /kat/</span></li>
<li><span>/la/, /lah/, /lak/, /lam/, /lan/, <strong>/lar*/,</strong> /las/, /lat/</span></li>
<li><span>/ma/, /mah/, /mak/, /mam/, /man/, <strong>/mar*/</strong>, /mas/, /mat/</span></li>
<li><span>/ta/, /tah/, /tak/, /tam/, /tan/, <strong>/tar*/</strong>, /tas/, /tat/</span></li>
<li><strong>/tra*/, /trah*/, /trak*/, /tram*/, /tran*/, /trar*/, /tras*/, /trat*/</strong></li>
<li><span>/va/, /vah/, /vak/, /vam/, /van/, <strong>/var*/</strong>, /vas/, /vat/</span></li>
<li><span>/za/, /zah/, /zak/, /zam/, /zan/, <strong>/zar*/</strong>, /zas/, /zat/</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>Nucleus /i/:</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>/kri*/, /krim*/, /krin*/, /kris*/</strong></li>
<li><span>/mi/, /mim/, /min/, <strong>/mis*/</strong></span></li>
<li><span>/ni/, /nim/, /nin/, <strong>/nis*/</strong></span></li>
<li><strong>/ri*/, /rim*/, /rin*/, /ris*/</strong></li>
<li><span>/vri/, /vrim/, /vrin/, <strong>/vris*/</strong></span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>Nucleus /o/:</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/cro/, /cron/, /cror/, /cros/, /croz/</span></li>
<li><span>/ho/, /hon/, /hor/, /hos/, /hoz/</span></li>
<li><span>/po/, /pon/, /por/, /pos/, /poz/</span></li>
<li><span>/so/, /son/, /sor/, /sos/, /soz/</span></li>
<li><strong>/vro*/, /vron*/, /vror*/, /vros*/, /vroz*/</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>Nucleus /u/:</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span><strong>/kun*/</strong>, /kus/, /kuss/, /kux/</span></li>
<li><span><strong>/run*/</strong>, /rus/, /russ/, /rux/</span></li>
<li><strong>/tun*/, /tus*/, /tuss*/, /tux*/</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>In the next section, I apply these findings to the sample again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Subtraction Method, Results and Limitations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In this section, I introduce a new form of notating possible syllables, I plug the new syllables discovered with the subtraction method into the word set and present the final results, and I briefly indicate the limitations of this process.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>1. Concise Notation</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The method of listing every possible syllable is already cumbersome, and it will only become more so as time goes on. Therefore, r</span>
  <span>ather than listing the entire set of valid syllables in a large list, as I have been doing, from now on I will list the range of valid syllables in a set like this:</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>(0, c, d, g, h* k, l, m, t, tr* v, z) /a/ (0, h, k, m, n, r*, s, t)</span></li>
<li><span>(0, f, m, n, s, t) /e/ (0, s, t)</span></li>
<li><span>(kr*, m, n, r*, vr) /i/ (0, m, n, s*)</span></li>
<li><span>(cr, h, p, s, vr*) /o/ (0, n, r, s, z)</span></li>
<li><span>(k, r, t*) /u/ (n*, s, ss, z)</span></li>
<li><span>(p) /y/ (?)</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>In this set, all of the consonants in parentheses before the vowel represent valid onsets for that vowel, and the consonants after the vowel represent valid codas. A zero means that the vowel has been seen without an onset or without a coda. The question mark after the /y/ simply tells us that we have yet to see a syllable ending with /y/ in it. The asterisk again denoting information inferred in the last chapter.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>An alternative way of writing this would be:</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/a/, /ca-/, /da-/, /ga-/, /ha-*/, /ka-/, /la-/, /ma-/, /ta-/, /tra-*/, /va-/, /za-/</span></li>
<li><span>/e-/, /fe-/, /me-/, /ne-/, /se-/, /te-/, </span></li>
<li><span>/kri-*/, /mi-/, /ni-/, /ri-*/, /vri-/, </span></li>
<li><span>/cro-/, /ho-/, /po-/, /so-/, /vro-*/, </span></li>
<li><span>/ku-/, /ru-/, /tu-*/, </span></li>
<li><span>/py-/, </span></li>
<li><span>/-a/, /-ah/, /-ak/, /-am/, /-ar*/, /-as/, /-at/</span></li>
<li><span>/-e/, /-es/, /-et/, </span></li>
<li><span>/-i/, /-im/, /-in/, /-is*/, </span></li>
<li><span>/-o/, /-on/, /-or/, /-os/, /-oz/, </span></li>
<li><span>/-un*/, /-us/, /-uss/, /-ux/, </span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>This way is less compact, so I will not use it as often.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>2. Iteration</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With the syllables derived from the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Introductory </span>
  </em>
  <span>process, and the syllables derived from the subtraction method, we can interpret the following sample words.</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li><span>/ampora/ = /am.por.a/</span></li>
<li><span>/damara/ = /da.mar.a/</span></li>
<li><span>/eridan/ = /e.ri.dan/</span></li>
<li><span>/feferi/ = /fe.fe.ri/</span></li>
<li><span>/horuss/ = /ho.russ/</span></li>
<li><span>/kankri/ = /kan.kri/</span></li>
<li><span>/karkat/ = /kar.kat/</span></li>
<li><span>/makara/ = /ma.kar.a/</span></li>
<li><span>/mituna/ = /mi.tun.a/</span></li>
<li><span>/nitram/ = /ni.tram/</span></li>
<li><span>/porrim/ = /por.rim/</span></li>
<li><span>/tavros/ = /ta.vros/</span></li>
<li><span>/vantas/ = /van.tas/</span></li>
<li><span>/vriska/ = /vris.ka/</span></li>
<li><span>/zahhak/ = /zah.hak/</span></li>
</ul>
<p>
  <span>The remaining words cannot be deduced from this method alone, and no new iterations can be made upon them, unless we make further assumptions about the nature of the sample. </span>
  <span>For example, the word /gamzee/ contains the valid syllable /gam/. The remaining portion, /zee/, looks very clearly like a single syllable to an English speaking eye, yet so far we have not made any assumptions about the nature of paired vowels. In order to interpret /zee/ as one syllable, I would need to add two assumptions:</span>
</p>
<ol>
<li><span>Multiple letters may represent a single sound in some situations</span></li>
<li><span>One of those situations is /ee/</span></li>
</ol>
<p>
  <span>Since we may now treat /ee/ as one vowel, I can analyze /gamzee/ as /gam.zee/ and /meenah/ as /meen.ah/. This gives us a new line to add to our vowel chart above:</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>(m, z) ee (0, n)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I could go through and keep making assumptions until I have accounted for every word. But this is not rigorous, and it is essentially the same as drawing the boundaries where you please. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This method can only ever go so far by itself. To continue our investigation, I require a new analytical tool. Next chapter I discuss the Syllable Conservation Method.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>